Pre-Christmas Berlin break 19-22 December 2016

A lovely day...a contender for the best one of the year?

This morning, before hitting the breakfast buffet, we made sure that our room rate included the meal! We didn't fancy being charged 19,50 euros per day for the four of us...a whopping 234 euros in total! We had already been nuisance guests as last night we'd closed the outer door and then couldn't open it again with our room keys, and a member of staff had to accompany us back and open it so we could get to our rooms!

Thankfully our room rate included a buffet breakfast so that was great and we could indulge in cereals, fruit, breads, yoghurts, a range of hot dishes and lashings of good coffee. The dining room was situated overlooking a courtyard and was very airy and bright, much better than the pokey area of the Grosser Kurfurst.

We had plans to visit the Olympic Stadium today and knew that it was a fair ride on the U2 line, almost all the way to Ruhleben (for some strange reason, Sophie's nickname for Archie...don't ask me why).

We took the line from Markisches Museum and the train was very full with standing room only. By the time we'd reached the outer stations the carriages were almost empty with just one other couple travelling with us. When we all got out they headed for the Olympic Stadium while we fooled around taking photos.

It was a very grey and misty day as well as being bitterly cold. The platform and station were deserted and we started walking towards the stadium. We came to a huge expanse in front of the building which is used for parking I suppose. The next night Hertha Berlin were playing another team so I expect there would be a completely different atmosphere!

We paid 7 euros to enter the stadium and went through a very modern and bright visitor centre. We were allowed to walk where we wanted, although the VIP boxes and pitch itself were out of bounds. There were a lot of people getting the stadium ready for tomorrow's game and the pitch itself looked lovely.

As always, the pitch looked a lot smaller than it does on television. I imagined the atmosphere at a match would be fantastic and I couldn't get over how much seating there was. We wandered about and had a good look at a bell dating from the 1936 Olympic games. The engravings were very interesting!

The area around the stadium was very quiet indeed, with hardly anyone about. We had a look at the Torch holder and the wall plaques with the list of winners.

In the distance we could see the Bell Tower and two huge sculptures of men with horses.

We also saw the pool where the diving events took place and we all shivered! Even thinking about taking a dip in the icy waters made us come out in goosebumps!

As it was now really cold and Mike was suffering with a cough and a  bad chest we headed inside for cups of hot chocolate. The men working in the arena were queuing up for their lunch - steaming plates of pork and spaghetti. We sat by the window with our hot drinks and gazed out over the arena.

It was utter bliss to sip our chocolate and get warm again! After we'd finished we walked back to the visitor centre (taking some photos with the bears on the way) and watched a short film about the stadium and then we took the U2 line back to Markisches Museum so we could pop into the hotel, use the loos and freshen up a bit.

At least the bears added a touch of much needed colour to the grey day!

We decided to walk back to Alexanderplatz and visit the Galeria Kaufhof to do some shopping. Sophie and I were in search of a heart and some Christmas decorations. Of course, she also wanted to visit the Mac outlet! On the way we noticed that both Christmas markets were closed which I thought was a good thing - a mark of respect for those who had died and had been injured.

Sophie bought three lipsticks at Mac and I found a little "gonk" straight away. Mike and Keith went off in search of a beer counter but couldn't find anything so they hung around and waited as we looked at the decorations on the 5th floor. It was very busy in the store with people doing Christmas shopping. I could have spent a fortune! We didn't see any hearts we liked so we decided to look at the Christmas markets when they re-opened.

Our latest addition to the gonk family!

As we were a bit hungry by now, we walked across the station and went to the restaurant we regularly visit for currywurst and fried potatoes. Keith just had a beer but the three of us tucked into our meals with gusto, although Mike said the sauce was a bit sickly.

As Keith and Mike had never used the trams in Berlin we took one to Hackescher Markt which saved us a walk. Sophie wanted to wander around the Hackescher Hof again and we had to take the obligatory photo in front of the Christmas tree!

It was still bitterly cold with a freezing wind that cut right through our clothes! After wandering around for a while we found the bar that we had seen some years back and which Keith had always wanted to visit. It was situated at the end of an alleyway completely covered in graffiti with weird sculptures everywhere.

Keith suggested going in for a drink but I wasn't too sure...the others encouraged me, though, so we went into the most grungiest bar I'd ever come across in my life! There were two women at the bar who stared at us as we walked in and made me feel quite uncomfortable. It was very dimly lit with walls painted in dark colours and candles everywhere. It was how I imagined the edgier side of Berlin to be!

Sophie ordered a Margarita while the three of us had beers and when Sophie went to take a photo of her drink the barman told her it was not allowed...hmmm! She did manage to get one, though!

Keith and the kids loved it in there but I wasn't so sure! Not really my type of place, to be honest!

After we'd had our drinks we had a walk around outside and looked at all the graffiti. Mike took a photo of me:

As it was now getting late, we headed back to the hotel to have hot showers and get ready for our dinner reservation at Reinhard's. I was really looking forward to eating in the beautiful restaurant again and we'd made the booking a few months ago to make sure the place was open and that we could have a table. We enjoyed a few drinks in Otello first and as always, we were the only ones in there. It was like having our own little private bar!

Happiness is...Reinhard's and a glass of Riesling!

Sophie and I shared a bottle of very good Riesling while the boys had beers and we sat there having a good chat until it was time to go through to our table. The restaurant was busy and we had a seat by the window. The two waiters who served us last year weren't about but we were looked after very well by the staff and had a delicious meal.

We had some bread to munch on first and Sophie and I chose the veal escalope for a main course served with fried potatoes. cauliflower cheese and a mushroom sauce. It was delicious! Keith and Mike went for the lamb chops which looked very meaty. We managed to fit in desserts tonight - profiteroles for Mike, crepes for me served with Grand Marnier and Tiramisu for Sophie. It was a fantastic evening and rounded off our day very nicely!